Current Affairs Update – 12-14 August, 2017

Hello and welcome to exampundit. Here are the Important Current Affairs of 12, 13 & 14 August, 2017. These are very important for the upcoming IBPS PO, IBPS RRB, OICL AO, UIIC Assistant & NICL Assistant Exams.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on
11 August 2017 presented the second volume of Economic Survey 2016-17 in both
houses of the Parliament. Volume II of the survey was presented on the last day
of the monsoon session of the Parliament.

The second volume containing
updated macroeconomic data was authored by Chief Economic Adviser Arvind
Subramanian and his team.

Volume II of the survey says
achieving the high end of the 6.75-7.5 per cent growth projected previously
will be difficult due to appreciation of rupee, farm loan waivers and
transitionary challenges from implementing GST

Highlights of the Economic Survey 2016-17 Volume-2

Fiscal Developments

The fiscal outcome of the Central
Government in 2016-17 was marked by strong growth in tax revenue, sustenance of
the pace of capital spending and a consolidation of non-salary/pension revenue
expenditure. This combination allowed the Government to contain the fiscal
deficit to 3.5 per cent of GDP in 2016-17.

The Union Budget for 2017-18
opted for a gradual fiscal consolidation path: the fiscal deficit is expected
to decline to 3.2 percent of GDP in 2017-2018. The fiscal deficit target of 3
per cent of GDP under the FRBM framework is projected to be achieved in
2018-19.

Monetary Management and Financial Intermediation

The Reserve Bank of India cut the
policy rate by 50 basis points during 2016-17. However, it shifted its monetary
policy stance from accommodative to neutral in February 2017. As of August 2017, Repo rate stood at 6.00
per cent and reverse repo rate at 5.75 per cent.

Monetary aggregates decelerated
significantly following the withdrawal of legal tender status of specified bank
notes on November 9, 2016. As of 31st March 2017, currency in circulation
contracted by 19.7 per cent whereas reserve money contracted by 12.9 per cent.

Credit off-take from banks
continued to decelerate further. During 2016-17, gross bank credit outstanding
grew at around 7 per cent on an average. The average gross bank credit to
industry contracted by 0.2 per cent in the FY 2016-17.

Climate Change, Sustainable Development and Energy

India ratified the Paris
Agreement on 2nd October, 2016. India’s actions for the post-2020 period are
based on its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC).

India’s NDC targets to lower the
emissions intensity of GDP by 33 – 35 per cent by 2030 from2005 levels, to
increase the share of non-fossil based power generation capacity to 40 per cent
of installed electric power capacity(cumulative) by 2030, and to create an
additional carbon sink of 2.5-3 Gt CO2e through additional forest and tree
cover by 2030.

External Sector

India’s balance of payments
situation which was benign and comfortable during 2013-14 to 2015-16, further
improved in 2016-17, as a result of low and falling trade and current account
deficits and moderate and rising capital inflows, resulting in further
accretion of foreign exchange reserves.

Reflecting the slowly improving
world economic situation, India’s exports turned positive at 12.3 per cent in
2016-17 after an interregnum of two years. This along with a marginal decline
in imports by 1.0 per cent resulted in narrowing down of trade deficit to US$
112.4 billion (5 per cent of GDP) in 2016-17 as compared to US$ 130.1 billion
(6.2 per cent of GDP) in 2015-16.

Agriculture and Food Management

The average farm size in India is
small, and declining since 1970-71. The predominance of small operational
holdings is a major limitation to reap the benefits of economies of scale in
agriculture operations.

The progress in agriculture needs
to be evaluated in terms of outcomes such as catching up with global yields of
various crops as a means to increase incomes of farmers.

Industry and Infrastructure

Industrial performance has shown
moderation from 8.8 percent during 2015-16 to 5.6 percent in 2016-17.

Industrial growth as per Index of
Industrial Production (IIP) new series of 2011-12 shows overall IIP growth at 5
percent in 2016-17 as compared to 3.4 percent last year.

The Index of Eight Core Industries
growth during 2016-17 was 4.8 percent as compared to 3.0 percent in 2015-16.

Services Sector

The services sector remains the
key driver of India’s economic growth, contributing almost 62 per cent of its
gross value added growth in 2016-17. However, the growth of this sector has
moderated to 7.7 per cent in 2016-17 compared to 9.7 per cent achieved in the
previous year, though it continues to be higher than the other two sectors and
nearly at the top among the 15 major economies.

The services growth moderation is
mainly due to the deceleration in growth in two services categories- trade,
hotels, transport, communication and services related to broadcasting (7.8 per
cent), and financial, real estate & professional services (5.7 per cent).
The share of services sector in total gross capital formation (GCF), at current
prices, has increased consistently over the last four years from 53.3 per cent
in 2011-12 to 60.3 per cent in 2015-16.

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Odisha government launches Facebook programme ‘SheMeansBusiness’

Odisha Chief Minister, Naveen
Patnaik launched Facebook’s programme called ‘She Means Business’ for women
entrepreneurs in the state on 10 August 2017.

The programme was launched in
partnership with Odisha’s micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) department
and Project Mission Shakti.

Under the scheme, around 25000
women entrepreneurs and Self-Help Group (SHG) members will get training on
digital marketing skills by the end of 2018.

The training will involve
teaching of basic nuances of digital marketing like how to start your business
on Facebook, how to make it real-time business, how to give quick response to
queries and ensure timely delivery and quality assurance.

The social media platform,
Facebook, will be monitoring the growth of the MSMEs in Odisha after imparting
training to them in the next one year.

It will also prepare a data base
of the MSMEs through registrations in which they would be taking down the email
ids and the mobile phone numbers of entrepreneurs in all the workshops.

News related to India & States

India’s first online course on Infusion Therapy launched

The Infusion Nurses Society
(INS), a global authority in infusion therapy, on 13 August 2017 launched
India’s first online course on Infusion Therapy for nurses.

Under the online course, the
Infusion Nurses Society aims to train over 3000 nurses in the vital medical
procedure.

As per the INS, due to the reach
and ease of the digital platform, the course will enable members to access the
various infusion therapy modules and presentations through its website.

Infusion therapy deals with all
aspects of fluid and medication infusion, via intravenous or subcutaneous
application.

Indian Coast Guard Ship Shaurya commissioned in Goa

The Indian Coast Guard Ship
(ICGS) Shaurya on 12 August 2017 was commissioned in Vasco, Goa by Union
Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan.

ICGS Shaurya is the fifth in the
series of six 105-metre offshore patrol vessels (OPVs).

The vessel will be based at
Chennai under administrative and operational control of Commander Coast Guard
Region (East).

At present, the Indian Coast
Guard has a fleet of 129 ships and boats, and 72 ships and boats are at various
stages of construction at different shipyards in India.

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Appointments

Santosh Sharma appointed CMD of Hindustan Copper Limited

Santosh Sharma was today
appointed as Chairman and Managing Director of Hindustan Coper Limited (HCL).

He is at present Director
(Operations) in the HCL.

The Appointments Committee of the
Cabinet (ACC) has approved his appointment to the post for a period of five
years, an order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) said.

Emandi Sankara Rao has been
appointed as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of IFCI Ltd.

He is at present working as
Director and Chief Executive Officer of IIFCL Asset Management Company Ltd.

World News

World Health Organisation declares Somalia free of polio

The World Health Organisation
(WHO) on 13 August 2017 declared Somalia free of polio. The UN health agency
announced that it had not recorded any case of polio disease in Somalia in the
last three years.

The declaration by WHO keeps
Somalia outside the last group of countries which still record cases of polio
in the world. Afghanistan, Nigeria and Pakistan are the remaining countries
where polio is still being recorded.

The WHO stated that Somalia
recorded the last case of polio in 2014 in the central part of the country.
However, since then it has remained free of the disease.

On the other hand, the WHO also
warned that Somalia remained vulnerable, calling for continued vaccination
campaign.

Sports News

Legendary sprinter Usain Bolt retires, his last race marred by injury

Usain Bolt, the greatest sprinter
of modern times, retired from the Athletics world on 13 August 2017. But the
farewell ended in pain as he injured himself while running the last lap of the
men’s 4x100m relay race at the World Athletics Championships in London.

While running the final race of
his career, the 30-year-old Bolt, after taking the baton from his Jamaican
teammate Yohan Blake, suffered cramps on his left hamstring as he tried, in
vain, to chase down his rivals in the race.

Bolt went down on his keens with
hands on his head in dejection and was then lying alone on the tracks for a
while before Blake and the other teammates, Julian Forte, Yohan Blake and Omar
McLeod, gathered around him.

The towering Jamaican, who had
dominated the sprint race like nobody else, was helped to his feet. As he
limped over the finishing line, the crowd applauded him. Britain won the gold
in 37.47 seconds while United States (38.01) and Japan took the silver and
bronze respectively.

Days

International Youth Day 2017 observed globally

The International Youth Day was
observed across the world on 12 August 2017 with the theme ‘Youth Building
Peace’.

This year, the Day is aimed at
celebrating young people’s contributions in preventing conflicts and bringing
about transformations along with inclusion, social justice and sustainable
peace.

The International Youth Day was
proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on 17 December 1999 through
its resolution 54/120.

The Day came into existence
through the recommendation of the World Conference of Ministers Responsible for
Youth in August 1998 that 12 August should be declared International Youth Day.

On the occasion of the World Elephant Day, i.e. on 12 August 2017, the Union Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan has launched ‘Gaj Yatra’.

Gaj Yatra is a nationwide campaign to protect elephants. The campaign is planned to cover 12 elephant range states.

During the period of the campaign, artists and craftsmen will create life-size works on the theme of elephants in places along the route of the roadshow, covering 12 states that have wild elephants, using local art and craft.

Specially fabricated vehicles will be deployed to display these on pre-determined routes with campaigners.

The ‘Gaju’ mascot, which was released by the Ministry in 2012, will be helm the campaign.